1. Year

1. Semester (Winter)

Advanced Borehole Geophysics

Advanced Borehole Geophysics

Dr. master Esp. Ing.JeanKormann

Compulsory

3 hour Lecture/Practical

3.5 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

Lecture 260.060 Geophysical Well Logging

Synopsis

1)
Principles and applications of geophysical borehole logs for resistivity, gamma ray spectroscopy, neutron, density and PE-coefficient. Log interpretation in shaly sands.
2)
The different types of acoustic waves in the borehole and their measurement and application. Specific features of logging while drilling (LWD) measurements compared to wireline logs.
3)
Principles and application of formation testing tools (Wireline and LWD) for the determination of formation pressures and fluid types. Application of borehole imaging tools (acoustic and electric). Criteria for the planning of logging programs for different lithologies and borehole types.
4)
Applied NMR core and log interpretation: introduction to NMR physics and applications.
5)
Geomechanics: basic principles and applications in particular in drilling.
6)
Core: core acquisition and handling, CCA and SCAL measurements and interpretation including basic porosity and permeability as well as electrical properties, capillary pressure, relative permeability and wettability and its applications in petrophysics.

Objective

The participants will obtain a deeper understanding of the capabilities and limitations of standard wireline logs.

Grading

Advanced Petroleum Eco­nom­ics Seminar

Advanced Petroleum Economics Seminar

Dipl.-Ing. MBAFranzSiegmeth

Compulsory

3 hour Seminar

4 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

no

Synopsis

Selected chapters and actual topics from the petroleum business. Every student gets the chance to dive into selected topics pf Petroleum Economics, in a way that under guidance of an advisor he is able to write a scientific article in SPE-paper style.

Objective

The aim of the course is to enable the student to write autonomously a scientific literature paper.

Grading

Advanced Petroleum Eco­nom­ics Seminar

Advanced Petroleum Economics Seminar

Dipl.-Ing. MBAFranzSiegmeth

Compulsory

3 hour Seminar

4 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

no

Synopsis

Selected chapters and actual topics from the petroleum business. Every student gets the chance to dive into selected topics of Petroleum Economics, in a way that under guidance of an advisor he is able to write a scientific article in SPE-paper style.

Objective

The aim of the course is to enable the student to write autonomously a scientific literature paper.

Objective

Successful participants will gain an insight into a general simulation workflow, will create a connection between physics models and their numerical implementation and will be able to independently solve a simulation problem of continuum mechanics, be it fluid dynamics and/or solid mechanics, using an OpenFOAM solver.

Crisis Man­age­ment in the Petroleum Industry

Crisis Management in the Petroleum Industry

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

The lectures will cover various types of crises. They also will describe how to set up a crisis management system and how to manage a company in a crisis situation. The students will also get trained in a TV studio in order to be prepared to act as a company’s spokesperson.

Objective

The participants will learn how to manage a crisis situation in an E&P company.
Successful participants will be able to identify the crisis potential. They must be capable to setup a crisis organization within a short period of time. The ability of internal and external communication must be demonstrated. Finally, successful participants will be able to act as the company’s spokesperson.

Formation Impairment and Stimulation

Formation Impairment and Stimulation

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

Based on the history of a wellbore, origin and various types of formation impairment are discussed. The part of the lecture dealing with hydraulic fracturing will cover: Rock mechanics and fracture geometry, fracture conductivity, fracturing fluids, additives and proppants. Moreover, theories of proppant transportation as well as 2D and 3D models of fracture propagation are discussed. The lectures will also cover various types of acidizing technologies. HSE issues will also be covered.

Objective

The students will get an understanding of formation impairment and how to improve the inflow performance.
The successful participant will demonstrate his/her ability to judge the type of impairment of the wellbore. They will also be able to set up a matrix stimulation and fracturing program for the individual application. HSE issues are an integral part of every program.

Objective

The participants know the basics of professional Project Management and they are able to effectively initiate, plan and manage/control projects. The knowledge will also help the participants prepare for an optional certification according to the international PMI-standard (e.g. CAPM / Certified Associate in Project Management).

Grading

written
written and/or oral
Multiple-choice test in each following class

Well Placement

Well Placement

Prerequisites

Students are expected to have a basic understanding of geology, well logging, drilling engineering and production engineering.

Synopsis

In this course students will be tought the basic concepts of well placement and the dependency of these principles on geoscience, drilling and production.
Well placement and its applications are defined and the entire process from the planning to the execution stage is covered:
Students will learn how to create the necessary geoscience models, well plans and LWD models. For the drilling stage, students will learn how to interprete measurements and the workflows to place the well in the target zone, meet the well objective and also consider the production restrictions for the later stage of the well life.

Objective

Students will learn how to create the necessary geoscience models, well plans, LWD models and will undergo telemetry and steering decision calculations.

Wellbore and Reservoir Geo­me­chanics

Wellbore and Reservoir Geomechanics

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Aims: To provide the geo-mechanical background and skills in the quantification of the mechanical properties of reservoir rocks and deformation processes of relevance to petroleum engineering.
Objectives: Departing from the already familiar concepts of strain and stress Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, and elastic versus visco-plastic irreversible deformation, this lecture will explain how reservoir rocks deform (rheology), and the stress- and fluid pressure states they are in before and during production. This analysis also necessitates a review of natural / induced faulting and fracturing and the corresponding patterns and structures that often confine or occur within hydrocarbon reservoirs. The concepts: compaction, strain hardening and softening, strain localization, tensile and shear failure, constitutive models, the relationship between fluid pressure and effective stress, the yield-envelope, and typical stress states of the earth’s crust will be explained in sufficient detail to understand reservoir geo-mechanical studies and field tests. Special emphasis will be placed on stress measurement and wellbore stability (breakouts, hydraulic fracture etc.) as well as the deformation of reservoir rocks under low effective stress / elevated fluid pressure. FEM analysis will be used to investigate stresses and failure in geo-engineering applications. The PDEs governing elastic-plastic behavior and taking into account fluid pressure and flow will be introduced, deriving displacement based FEM formulations. Field studies on the Lost Hill anticline and offshore reservoirs in the western US will be used to illustrate these concepts in practice.

Objective

Course participants will learn standard techniques to evaluate the state of stress, fluid pressure regime, constitutive behavior and failure envelope for most common sedimentary rocks. This will enable them to assess borehole stability, the poroelastic response of a reservoir, and the risks of reservoir compaction and disintegration / sand production.

Grading

One piece of course work (30%), an interim exam (30%) and a final exam on all of the covered material (40%).

2. Semester (Summer)

Introduction to Field Devel­op­ment Project

Introduction to Field Development Project

Synopsis

As members of an artificial asset team, course participants will gain proficiency and experience in the reservoir engineering workflow with the goal of the preparation and presentation of a development plan for a real reservoir. Objectives: Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favourable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management.

Objective

Successful participants will gather work experience in a realistic multi-disciplinary environment where they have to rely on each others expertise to achieve the project objectives. This will improve ability for effective teamwork, their technical communication skills, approach to interpersonal conflict resolution, and ability to fulfill specific objectives and deadlines.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To understand the function of-, referential character, structure, and organization of scientific publications and learn how to write a literature review following this format.
Objectives: Explain the process of preparation, submission, review and publication of scientific articles and their structure. Give participants a sense of the purpose of this organization and the role of individual elements, with special emphasis on the introduction, and its subdivision into the review, claim, and agenda. Special emphasis will be placed on how a literature review uses citations to progress from the familiar to the new, how it should distinguish areas of broad agreement from ones of controversy, and how different sources and kinds of information available to scientists underpin different viewpoints.

Objective

Successful participants will know how to use scientific literature to quickly extract information, supporting evidence / arguments, and links to supporting materials from articles. They will understand the role of the abstract, introduction, method, result and discussion sections, the conclusions, acknowledgements, list of references, and notation tables. They will also be able to properly reference citations, figures, and tables and know how to write figure captions and other elements of a paper in the expected format. Similar knowledge with regard to the preparation of conference presentations will also be acquired.

Grading

Initial test must be passed, review (70%) and presentation to peers (30%) of final mark.

Practical Aspects of Field Devel­op­ment

Practical Aspects of Field Development

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

On the occasion of an in-house seminar in an E&P company, the student will get a comprehensive overview of a petroleum engineer’s daily work.

Objective

The participants will gain practical knowledge and understand how theory from the university is implemented in an operational unit.
Successful participants will understand the necessity of a comprehensive theoretical background in order to fulfill the requirements in an engineer’s career.

Advanced Well Construction

Advanced Well Construction

Prerequisites

The successful completion of the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is highly recommended.

Synopsis

The simple vertical well profile is now expanded; highly deviated/horizontal wells and directional drilling techniques are introduced. Special load scenarios (including bi-axial loads) on casing and drill string are discussed as well as torque and drag during drilling and pipe running operations. Cutting transport issues, hydraulic optimization and drilling bit performance issues are explained for more complex wellbore situations. Step by step the basic well plan from lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is adapted to the new profiles and expanded to design the advanced technical well plan.

Objective

This course builds on knowledge gained in the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design. It should provide a fundamental basis for students to understand technical well planning issues for more complex wellbore profiles by including highly deviated and horizontal wells.

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Hon.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont.MarkusOberndorfer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Synopsis

technical, environmental, economical importance of corrosion and corrosion protection in oil and gas production and refining, aspects of security, types of corrosion, corrosion monitoring and corrosion protection

Objective

generation of knowledge on materials and corrosion relevant for petroleum engineers

Grading

for an examination date please send an email to markus.oberndorfer@rag-austria.at

Grading

Well Control

Well Control

Synopsis

The course consists of a theoretical and practical part in which students have the possibility to receive a well control simulation training, similar as required by the IWCF certificate. Theory of pressure control in drilling operations and during well kicks are discussed as well as abnormal pressure detection and fracture gradient determination. The rig site well control system is presented in detail and standard well control procedures like the Drillers Method and the Wait and Weight Method are evaluated and simulated in the practical part with the help of an in-house well control simulator.

Objective

This course is designed to familiarize the student with the basics of kick detection and well control. The session consists of an overview of kick indicators, various types of pressure, and well control equipment, techniques and procedures.

Advanced Well Construction

Advanced Well Construction

Prerequisites

The successful completion of the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is highly recommended.

Synopsis

The simple vertical well profile is now expanded; highly deviated/horizontal wells and directional drilling techniques are introduced. Special load scenarios (including bi-axial loads) on casing and drill string are discussed as well as torque and drag during drilling and pipe running operations. Cutting transport issues, hydraulic optimization and drilling bit performance issues are explained for more complex wellbore situations. Step by step the basic well plan from lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is adapted to the new profiles and expanded to design the advanced technical well plan.

Objective

This course builds on knowledge gained in the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design. It should provide a fundamental basis for students to understand technical well planning issues for more complex wellbore profiles by including highly deviated and horizontal wells.

Applied Geothermal Geophysics and Seismicity

Applied Geothermal Geophysics and Seismicity

Synopsis

This course introduces the theoretical and practical basics of geothermal energy recovery and induced earth quakes. Based on the physical principles of heat generation and transport, the heat balance of the earth is discussed: heat sources and heat flow in the earth. The global discussion focuses on radiogenic heat production in the earth's crust and petrophysical parameters that are important for geothermal energy recovery. Measuring methods for determining the heat flow are explained and performed in the lab.
The second part of this course discusses seismic events in mining, reservoirs, geothermal energy and gas / oil extraction. The required rock mechanical and seismological principles are taught.

Objective

Deepened understanding of the Earth's heat balance and the basics of using geothermal energy.
Understanding the processes that lead to induced earthquakes: induced seismicity - cause and effect

Grading

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Hon.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont.MarkusOberndorfer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Synopsis

technical, environmental, economical importance of corrosion and corrosion protection in oil and gas production and refining, aspects of security, types of corrosion, corrosion monitoring and corrosion protection

Objective

generation of knowledge on materials and corrosion relevant for petroleum engineers

Grading

for an examination date please send an email to markus.oberndorfer@rag-austria.at

Principles of Shallow and Deep Geothermal Energy...

Principles of Shallow and Deep Geothermal Energy Recovery and Thermodynamics

Prerequisites

Basics of the first four semesters
Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics
Geo-Engineering and Fluid Dynamics

Synopsis

The content of this course is the introduction into shallow and deep geothermal energy recovery systems. Relevant thermodynamic principles and heat transfer phenomena are discussed. Geological, hydrogeological and technical requirements are explained as well as legal issues. Project steps from the idea to the finished plant are discussed and elaborated in detail.

Objective

Successful participants are able to perform a feasibility study for potential geothermal energy recovery locations and to elaborate a detailed project plan for the successful implementation of geothermal plants.

Surface Facilities for Geothermal Energy

Surface Facilities for Geothermal Energy

Prerequisites

Basics of the first four semesters
Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics
Geo-Engineering and Fluid Dynamics

Synopsis

The content of this course is the discussion of surface facilities for geothermal energy recovery. The concepts and used facilities for heat generation and power-heat coupling units are presented. Designs, dimensioning and optimisations of the individual used pipes, pumps, turbines, and generators as well as the overall system are performed. Maintenance, operation and legal requirements are presented.

Objective

Successful participants are able to design and optimise surface facilities for geothermal energy recovery. Legal requirements as well as maintenance and operational requirements are understood.

Elective Subject “Elective Subject Petroleum Production Engineering”

Artificial Lift Systems

Artificial Lift Systems

Prerequisites

Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
Oil and Gas Production Principles
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

Advantages, disadvantages and the usage of different AL-systems are discussed in detail. The single components of a sucker rod installation, like pump jack, strings and the pumps themselves and their working methods are taught. Furthermore the students will get an insight into the principles of gas lift components and their design. Electric submersible pumps are discussed in detail as well as progressive cavity pumps. Another focus will be on proper material selection.

Objective

The lecture will give an overview of the most popular artificial systems. Sucker rod pumps, gas lift installations, electrical submersible, progressive cavity and hydraulic pumps are discussed in detail.
Successful participants will be able to design a proper artificial lift installation. They also will understand the limitations of the individual applications. Proper material selection based on the composition of the media produced should be fully understood as well.

Artificial Lift Systems Practical

Artificial Lift Systems Practical

Prerequisites

Oil and Gas Production Principles Practical
Analogous attendance of lecture “Artificial Lift Systems”
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

In this course the common artificial lift systems are taught: Sucker Rod Pumps, Progressive Cavity Pumps, Electric Submersible Pumps, Hydraulic Pumps and Gas Lift Systems
The working principle, design and system optimization procedures are discussed and applied. Industry standard software and the Pump Testing Facility are used to aid in training.
An insight into new technologies and developments is presented and discussed.

Objective

Successful participants are able to explain the working principle of the standard artificial lift systems, apply standard design and optimisation procedures with and without state of the art software. Furthermore they can perform a diagnosis of operating pumps.

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Objective: To obtain basic knowledge of physical and chemical principles underpinning microscopic displacements and reservoir-scale sweep processes. This knowledge will be applied to learn how to enhance recovery from oil reservoirs that already underwent primary depletion and secondary recovery processes.
Content: The course establishes the theoretical foundation in displacement physics, for the participant to understand and design IOR and EOR (improved and enhanced oil recovery) processes. We examine multiphase-flow phenomena ranging from the pore scale (micro-displacement efficiency) to the field scale (viscous fingering, emulsification, etc.).
A variety of EOR techniques will be discussed, including designed-water flooding, surfactant methods, miscible-gas injection, thermal recovery methods, and techniques for mobility control. The impact of these methods on displacement and sweep efficiency, their sensitivity to reservoir properties and their limits of applicability and associated risks will be discussed.

Objective

Participants of this course will acquire a solid foundations in EOR methods and an understanding where and when to apply them given their cost and compatibility with reservoir characteristics (EOR screening).

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Hon.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont.MarkusOberndorfer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Synopsis

technical, environmental, economical importance of corrosion and corrosion protection in oil and gas production and refining, aspects of security, types of corrosion, corrosion monitoring and corrosion protection

Objective

generation of knowledge on materials and corrosion relevant for petroleum engineers

Grading

for an examination date please send an email to markus.oberndorfer@rag-austria.at

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: Reservoir characterization and modeling is done to create and parameterize simulation models using sparse sub-surface information. The aim of this course is to explain geophysical reservoir characterization methods, reservoir modelling techniques and to demonstrate subsurface data integration across disciplines. Practical skills will be delivered through a series of exercises on real data.
Objectives: The course shows how to utilize information from hydrocarbon fields at different scale for the construction of reservoir models. At large scale structural and stratigraphic seismic attributes can be calibrated to well data. AVO and inversion results will be applied for rock and fluid characterization.
With geo-statistics reservoir properties will be analyzed. Deterministic (kriging, co-kriging) or stochastic algorithms (Gaussian simulation) will be covered in continuous property interpolation. For discrete properties object-based modeling, indicator simulation or multi-point statistics methods will be covered. Techniques for the averaging and upscaling of resulting geo-cellular reservoir models will also be addressed. They will be illustrated using state-of-the-art reservoir modelling software and data from actual reservoirs.

Objective

Participants will understand the logic, underpinning assumptions, and limitations of the most commonly used seismic attributes, statistical methods and geological modelling algorithms, and will be able to execute these methods using standard software tools in the frame of the static modelling workflow.

Grading

Five exercises (one for each main topic) need to be completed; team-work is appreciated. Short reports documenting parameters used, results and their interpretation should be submitted. Completed exercise summaries are the pre-requisite for a final mark. The mark will result from a final exam (written or oral).

Elective Subject “Elective Subject Reservoir Engineering”

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Objective: To obtain basic knowledge of physical and chemical principles underpinning microscopic displacements and reservoir-scale sweep processes. This knowledge will be applied to learn how to enhance recovery from oil reservoirs that already underwent primary depletion and secondary recovery processes.
Content: The course establishes the theoretical foundation in displacement physics, for the participant to understand and design IOR and EOR (improved and enhanced oil recovery) processes. We examine multiphase-flow phenomena ranging from the pore scale (micro-displacement efficiency) to the field scale (viscous fingering, emulsification, etc.).
A variety of EOR techniques will be discussed, including designed-water flooding, surfactant methods, miscible-gas injection, thermal recovery methods, and techniques for mobility control. The impact of these methods on displacement and sweep efficiency, their sensitivity to reservoir properties and their limits of applicability and associated risks will be discussed.

Objective

Participants of this course will acquire a solid foundations in EOR methods and an understanding where and when to apply them given their cost and compatibility with reservoir characteristics (EOR screening).

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: Reservoir characterization and modeling is done to create and parameterize simulation models using sparse sub-surface information. The aim of this course is to explain geophysical reservoir characterization methods, reservoir modelling techniques and to demonstrate subsurface data integration across disciplines. Practical skills will be delivered through a series of exercises on real data.
Objectives: The course shows how to utilize information from hydrocarbon fields at different scale for the construction of reservoir models. At large scale structural and stratigraphic seismic attributes can be calibrated to well data. AVO and inversion results will be applied for rock and fluid characterization.
With geo-statistics reservoir properties will be analyzed. Deterministic (kriging, co-kriging) or stochastic algorithms (Gaussian simulation) will be covered in continuous property interpolation. For discrete properties object-based modeling, indicator simulation or multi-point statistics methods will be covered. Techniques for the averaging and upscaling of resulting geo-cellular reservoir models will also be addressed. They will be illustrated using state-of-the-art reservoir modelling software and data from actual reservoirs.

Objective

Participants will understand the logic, underpinning assumptions, and limitations of the most commonly used seismic attributes, statistical methods and geological modelling algorithms, and will be able to execute these methods using standard software tools in the frame of the static modelling workflow.

Grading

Five exercises (one for each main topic) need to be completed; team-work is appreciated. Short reports documenting parameters used, results and their interpretation should be submitted. Completed exercise summaries are the pre-requisite for a final mark. The mark will result from a final exam (written or oral).

Reservoir Engineering 2: Advanced Concepts for Conventional Resources

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To develop solid foundations in advanced reservoir engineering concepts through having a complete understanding of physics of reservoir engineering.
Objectives: The course will focus on theoretical foundations of advanced reservoir engineering concepts. The physics of coning phenomena is explained and mathematical foundations are discussed. A review of aquifer models and prediction of aquifer performance by matching production data with other characteristics are illustrated. Efficiency of water flooding using Buckley-Leverett and other approaches will be reviewed and experimental and field studies presented. The review of conventional and recent methods in well testing of oil and gas wells for fractured and non-fractured reservoirs will be investigated. Inflow-outflow performance curve of oil wells are discussed. An introduction to characterization, modeling and simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (NFRs) is followed by some case studies.

Objective

Participants will acquire solid foundations in the advanced techniques of reservoir engineering, and understand how to apply them in complex reservoir problems in the future studies.

Reservoir Simulation Methods I

Reservoir Simulation Methods I

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE, Flow in Porous Media, Reservoir Fluids

Synopsis

Aims: Students will be provided an insight into existing methods of numerical reservoir simulation based on black-oil formulations. The course will consist of presentation accompanied by hands-on exercises (predominantly Matlab).
Objectives: At first, an introduction with a review of simulation artifacts will be given followed by a part on modeling concepts and simulator input data. Thereafter, the constitutive equations will be discussed and the discretization methods explained. Finally, well models are introduced to enable participants to develop numerical simulation codes suitable to reproduce meaningful simulation results that can match literature cases. The focus of this course is on classical multi-phase fluid flow problems and their associated solution algorithms to be expressed as pseudo-code written in Matlab language. The practical part will focus on 2-phase flow in one and two-dimensional models to be constructed and developed by participants. Classical methods implemented in black-oil reservoir simulators will be applied and discussed in more detail. Additional material on more specialized simulation topics will be covered in a subsequent course (Reservoir Simulation Methods II).

Objective

Successful course participants will understand how simulation methods can be employed to model multi-phase reservoir flow. Basic programming skills and knowledge of algorithms will be acquired during the course.

Grading

Water Flooding

Water Flooding

Prerequisites

The student should be familiar with concepts of basic reservoir engineering. Knowledge of basic reservoir simulation is recommended.

Synopsis

Theoretical, experimental and mathematical subjects related to water flooding process will be provided in detail. This will include; fundamentals of water flooding, design & optimization, performance predictions surveillance, water flooding management, and extension of water flooding in terms of low salinity water, smart water, carbonated water, and augmented Nano flooding.

Objective

The objective of this course is to provide and introduce the students with the fundamental of conventional and non-conventional water flooding processes. The students should be able to identify and understood the key reservoirs and operational factors impacting a water injection project in terms of recovery efficiency. In addition, calculation of water flood performance through analytical (Buckley-Leverett using Matlab or Excel) and numerical simulator is part of the objective.

2. Year

3. Semester (Winter)

Field Devel­op­ment Project

Field Development Project

Prerequisites

The course is designed for engineering undergraduate (e.g. mechanical or drilling engineering or similar) who have an understanding of engineering fundamentals, ideally entry level lectures in mechanical and electrical engineering, and automation, basic understanding of drilling engineering. The course also targets graduate students, who are interested in applied engineering problems.

Synopsis

As members of an artificial asset team, course participants will gain proficiency and experience in the reservoir engineering workflow with the goal of the preparation and presentation of a development plan for a real reservoir. Objectives: Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favorable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management.

Objective

Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favorable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management. Successful participants will gather work experience in a realistic multi-disciplinary environment where they have to rely on each other’s expertise to achieve the project objectives. This will improve ability for effective teamwork, their technical communication skills, approach to interpersonal conflict resolution, and ability to fulfill specific objectives and deadlines.

Advanced Well Monitoring and Analysis

Advanced Well Monitoring and Analysis

Prerequisites

Comprehensive knowledge about well drilling, logging, testing completions, servicing, reservoir management and production engineering. Completion, well servicing, production, reservoir and field personnel involved in gathering and interpreting data.

Synopsis

Collecting the data, information and events over the whole well, reservoir and field life cycle, their validation and analysis and transformation open various possibilities to learn and make collected data as valuable tools and new knowledge for fast and effective learning.
It is a well-known that data, used for analysis of oil and gas well and reservoir performance (geological, drilling, well servicing, production, processing, economic, etc.) are not the data registered in short period of time, but they are every day, weekly or monthly data. When the data and information are registered, the response has to be prompt, because even the smallest delay in analyst’s reaction inevitably leads to loss of control over the wells’ and reservoirs’ performance. New registered data is always a new time signal that has to be directed in timely manner to corresponding location for the purpose of analysis. Well operation and production history data are recorded and stored on daily basis, and include “hidden” information on potential problem causes that have led to oil production decrease. Selection of well candidates for performing certain operation (workover and/or stimulation) requires knowing general well operating characteristics and a number of specific requirements in well performance, as well as different parameters which allow identification and development of different key performance indicators to quantify operation efficiency of well, reservoir and field and to estimate saving potential if proper corrective actions would be applied. The student will be learned how to prioritize the best candidates for solving the operational problems and increase petroleum production. The frequency of a problem class occurrence, as well as the fact that oil and gas production is basically a time sequence in which certain signals (e.g. oil/water/gas production) or phenomena (paraffin scaling in tubing, inorganic scaling at injection, pump damage, etc.) oscillate in time with typical frequency and phases. Establishing an internal functional and logic dependence between data, information and events is used for generating a well operation learning curve. The various data mining tools will be used to recognize the symptoms and to diagnose the problems in well operations and to allow students better understanding the value of data and information collected during monitoring and surveillance of well operations, both, in real and episodic time. Based on what is known about the field/reservoir, it would be discussed additional tools needed to check and exam well files and data with an aim to evaluate the most likely opportunities. Prior making the final decision whether the well is or not candidate for workover/stimulation, student will be acquired with knowledge how to effectively apply economic analysis to justify the proposed technical solutions.

Objective

The students will lean how to organize big data volume (data, information, events and knowledge) to perform well analysis and to apply problem analysis methodology. Systematic approach to manage big data will be applied with the focus on the value of the data, symptoms recognition methodology and problem diagnosis. The course will allow a deeper understanding concerning the value of various type of data collected during long well and reservoir life cycle. Furthermore, the student should learn how to use the tools to manipulate such data and to convert them to useful information and knowledge with aim to achieve efficient data monetization and produce smarter from maturated brown fields and new discovered green fields.

Grading

Exam is written and if it would be required final check can be done orally. The exam is combined from theoretical and practical questions following the course content
The grading also considers the performance of the students in the course, discussions and activities during lectures.

Drilling Process Evaluation and Planning

Drilling Process Evaluation and Planning

Prerequisites

The successful completion of the lecture and practical Drilling Engineering and Well Design is highly recommended.

Synopsis

Subdivision of the drilling process into discrete operations; analysis and optimization of costs for each operation; analysis of bit and drilling performance; development of time versus depth and time versus cost charts; analysis of learning.

Objective

This course should provide a fundamental understanding of the drilling process in terms of process optimization and drilling costs reduction. It rounds up the technical well planning part from other lectures by detailed analysis of different operations and processes on the rig site and in the wellbore. The outcome of this lecture will be implemented in the Authorization of Expenditures (AFE).

Measure­ment Control, Monitoring and Analysis

Measurement Control, Monitoring and Analysis

Prerequisites

The participant will be introduced to all aspects of measuring at the rig, as well as reporting requirements. The analysis of all available data in real-time, as well as for post analysis will be discussed.

Synopsis

The course will present all relevant sensors on the rig and explain the measurement principles, as well as the required data quality assurance that needs to be applied interpreting these sensor readings. The participant will work through various examples of real-data from rigs to perform monitoring and analysis tasks, which typically are performed in real-time operating centers (RTOCs), or for post analysis. This will include requirements and examples for hydraulics monitoring, torque and drag monitoring, pore-pressure prediction and wellbore stability monitoring, as well as drilling performance evaluation. We will introduce data management and storage requirements and discuss data exchange standards, such as WITS or WITSML.

Objective

The participant will be introduced to all aspects of measuring at the rig, as well as reporting requirements. The analysis of all available data in real-time, as well as for post analysis will be discussed.

Well Construction Fluids Lab

Well Construction Fluids Lab

Prerequisites

The student should have passed the basic drilling engineering and fluid mechanics courses of the Petroleum Engineering Bachelor program.

Synopsis

The course starts with a theoretical part, including safety instructions, an introduction to principal used equipment and procedures and a detailed discussion of backgrounds of the individual lab modules. In the practical part of this course students will execute a series of experiments. Principal properties like fluid viscosity, gel strength, weight and filtration is measured for two different fluid systems. The impact on these properties when drilling salt or shale is demonstrated. Special attention is laid on drilling problems like differential pipe sticking, mud cake resistivity and formation damage by drilling fluids.

Objective

During this course the student is guided through the most important drilling fluids rig-laboratory measurements. Two example fluids are prepared and their drilling relevant properties are determined in a series of mechanical and chemical experiments.

Grading

This laboratory course starts with a block of 10 semester hours on theories which is held as a block at begin of the semester. 20 semester hours is used afterwards to execute the lab modules. Students need to register for these modules in advance.

Well Construction Mechanical Lab

Well Construction Mechanical Lab

Prerequisites

The student should have passed the basic drilling engineering and mechanical engineering courses of the Petroleum Engineering Bachelor program

Synopsis

The course is divided in 7 sessions.
In the first session the fundamentals of the principle rig mechanical systems and a systematic approach to evaluation and design will be introduced.
The second and third blocks describe the work flow during the mechanical component planning and development using the CDC-1 rig as an example.
The fourth session involves identifying and formulating the requirements and constraints for the rig.
The fifth and sixth sessions give some recommendation of different Drilling Tests related to the ROP determination and also define the operation limits with the CDC.
The last session is intended to use the knowledge gained during the previous sessions for design and calculations of a Mini-Drill-Rig. In this block the students will also have the opportunity to get a drilling practice using the Mini-Drill-Rig at the Chair of Drilling and Completion Engineering (CDC).

Objective

The course is designed for students in the Master program and is intended to give a hands-on course covering engineering design, different drilling tests such as drill off test and also operation limits with CDC. The main objective of the course is to give an overview about with the objective to work on the Mini-Drilling Rig CDC-1 considering the following aspects:
• Fundamentals of Engineering Design (construction, material, processing)
• Different Drilling Tests ( Drill Off Test)
• Mechanical Component Development Process
• Drilling Operation & Process
• Drilling Process Optimization

Objective

The course discussed special drilling related problems and their solutions. An understanding of these problems is essential to control overall well costs and succeed in safely reaching the intended target.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Objective

Natural Gas Technology

Natural Gas Technology

Dr. Dipl.-Ing.LeopoldBräuer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

The lecture will cover the most important processes of purification, storage, and distribution of natural gas. An overview of the necessity of transportation of natural gas to the market by liquefaction or GTL-processes will be given. The required equipment for gas processing, storage, distribution and the technical specifications of natural gas will be discussed. The importance of process flow diagrams will be demonstrated.

Objective

The students will learn about the flow of natural gas from the wellbore via the surface facilities to its final destination at the customer’s location.
Successful participants will understand the purification, process for various qualities of natural gas. They also will understand the chemical and physical limits to be considered in the process. Process flow diagrams of facilities will be understood.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

This course is based on the knowledge, gained from the basic courses during the bachelor’s studies. Enhanced inflow performance relationship models are presented, recalculated by hand and compared with the according software results. The vertical lift performance of multi-phase flow is analyzed in combination with choke and valve performance in detail. The nodal analysis, to evaluate the production rate and pressure for different completion types is trained. For artificially pumped wells, the design and layout of different pumping units is studied, using according software. The students elaborate a sensitivity study for a reference case and optimize the given system according to their findings.

Objective

This complementary course gives the students a detailed training on the flow behavior of multiphase fluids from the reservoir to the separator. Hand calculations in conjunction with the usage of state of the art software provide the students with fundamental knowledge on successfully designing and analyzing production systems.
Unterrichts-/
Lehrsprachen
Deutsch

Prerequisites

Synopsis

This course is based on the knowledge, gained from the basic courses during the bachelor’s studies. Enhanced inflow performance relationship models are presented, recalculated by hand and compared with the according software results. The vertical lift performance of multi-phase flow is analyzed in combination with choke and valve performance in detail. The nodal analysis, to evaluate the production rate and pressure for different completion types is trained. For artificially pumped wells, the design and layout of different pumping units is studied, using according software. The students elaborate a sensitivity study for a reference case and optimize the given system according to their findings.

Objective

This complementary course gives the students a detailed training on the flow behavior of multiphase fluids from the reservoir to the separator. Hand calculations in conjunction with the usage of state of the art software provide the students with fundamental knowledge on successfully designing and analyzing production systems.
Unterrichts-/
Lehrsprachen
Deutsch

Reservoir Engi­neering 2: Storage, Seques­tra­tion and...

Reservoir Engineering 2: Storage, Sequestration and Geothermal Energy

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Objective: The course aims to broaden the participant’s knowledge and perspective in reservoir engineering beyond the area of oil and gas production. Participants will get familiar with gas storage, acid gas and CO2 sequestration, energy recovery through CO2 injection and from geothermal systems.
Content: We will apply reservoir engineering methods to non-oil and gas subsurface processes and operations, and address topics specific for the respective operations.
The course covers reservoir engineering and operational aspects of: CO2 injection for sequestration, enhanced oil recovery and enhanced coal bed methane, natural gas and hydrogen Storage and geothermal energy production with focus on deep reservoirs and hot dry rock systems.
Thereby we address specific thermodynamic properties such as CO2-brine phase behavior, gas sorption, the coupling of fluid transport and chemical reactions, i.e. reactive transport, and the coupling to mechanical rock properties.
Lectures will be combined with discussions and exercises to deepen the knowledge.

Objective

Participants of this course will acquire solid foundations in storage and sequestration processes and energy recovery by CO2 injection and from geothermal systems. They will become familiar with the specific reservoir engineering issues of those operations. The course will enable to assess storage capacities, energy recoveries, as well as to assess the risks of such operations.

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Reservoir Engineering 2: Unconventional Resources

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To provide a basic understanding and knowledge about unconventional resources for hydrocarbon oil and gas.
Objectives: The course include classification of resources, geologic and geographic occurrences, recovery technology and economics of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The course will cover theoretical and practical aspects of unconventional reservoirs, such as, shale oil and gas, tar sands and heavy oils, gas hydrates, Coal Bed Methane (CBM), and also tight gas reservoirs. The geochemical and petrophysical properties and recovery mechanisms of each type will be presented. Production strategies enhancing by fracking and drilling/completion constraints for optimal designing are discussed and criteria to assess the performance of such a reservoir based on well placement will be reviewed. Simulation techniques and limitations are followed by environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas productions.

Objective

Participants will learn the physics of unconventional reservoirs and how to combine reservoir engineering knowledge to analyze them.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To develop the understanding for an interdisciplinary synergetic approach to efficient reservoir management with the goal to optimize economic recovery of petroleum assets
Objectives: The application of reservoir management principles as a strategy throughout the life cycle of a petroleum asset at each stage, from discovery, through appraisal to development and production until abandonment the critical aspects of reservoir management are recovered. The successful economic development of a petroleum asset requires an integrated approach in every aspect. This approach is applied to data acquisition, reservoir description and modelling, assessing uncertainty, techniques of reservoir monitoring and surveillance, generating predictions of future reservoir performance and economic evaluation.

Objective

Successful participants will understand and be able to apply the principles of reservoir management. This includes goal setting, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating reservoir performance to maximize economic recovery and minimize capital investment, risk and operating expenses. They will be able to identify, acquire and manage geosciences data that are required for building integrated reservoir models used for field development planning. They will also understand how these models are used together with traditional techniques like classical material balance and decline curve analysis to achieve optimum field development and operating plans. They will know how to apply the current reserves/ resource definitions to portray the total value of an oil and gas company by identifying all upside and downside potential. This supports portfolio management and the decision-making process.

Reservoir Simulation Methods II: Advanced Concepts

Reservoir Simulation Methods II: Advanced Concepts

Prerequisites

Space-Time Discretization of Flow and Transport Equations

Synopsis

Aims: Following the objectives set out in Space-Time Discretization of Flow and Transport Equations, and taking them further, the aim of this course is to familiarize participants with the non-linear governing partial differential equations arising from reservoir physics, and the numerical / discretization methods used to simulate with them. Linearizing assumptions are removed sequentially through conceptual examples, and complexity is uncovered through different approaches designed to deal with each case. Learning all of these techniques requires studying some of the most important physical processes in a reservoir and their mathematical interpretation to ultimately construct a simulator code. In this manner, the aim is to expand and consolidate the student’s understanding of what happens in the underground.
Objectives: In sequence, the course covers the conceptualization of flow-related processes in a reservoir and its surroundings. These processes and their interactions are formalized in terms of governing partial differential equations (PDEs). Their discretization and numerical solution with either the Finite-Volume or Finite-Element Methods (FVM, FEM) is illustrated. The course also covers the design of numerical experiments and visualization, analysis, and interpretation of simulation results. Special emphasis is placed on the non-linear aspects of two phase fluid flow in porous media.

Objective

Successful participants will understand how FEM/FVM methods and associated space-time discretization methods can be employed to solve multiphase flow equations (through two phase examples). Students will obtain valuable knowledge through the implementation of features used by the newest black-box commercial simulators. This will aid them in their work with any simulator they use, for whatever purpose.

Special Core Analysis

Special Core Analysis

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Aims: To develop skills in Core Analysis, Special Core Analysis and supporting techniques. To enable participants to analyze and interpret SCAL data.
Objectives: We review the basic concepts of wettability, saturations, capillarity, and relative permeability. We will learn about experimental techniques to characterize basic rock and fluid properties and to measure capillary pressure and relative permeability saturation functions.
Experimental data will be provided to obtain hands-on experience in analytical and numerical data interpretation, and to enable participants to “read” SCAL data.

Objective

Participants will become familiar with SCAL measurements and data interpretation methods (analytical and numerical). The course will enable to design a SCAL program, to QA/QC the resulting data and to predict water-flood performance and implications for EOR.

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

4. Semester (Summer)

Courses alphabetically

Advanced Borehole Geophysics

Advanced Borehole Geophysics

Dr. master Esp. Ing.JeanKormann

Compulsory

3 hour Lecture/Practical

3.5 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

Lecture 260.060 Geophysical Well Logging

Synopsis

1)
Principles and applications of geophysical borehole logs for resistivity, gamma ray spectroscopy, neutron, density and PE-coefficient. Log interpretation in shaly sands.
2)
The different types of acoustic waves in the borehole and their measurement and application. Specific features of logging while drilling (LWD) measurements compared to wireline logs.
3)
Principles and application of formation testing tools (Wireline and LWD) for the determination of formation pressures and fluid types. Application of borehole imaging tools (acoustic and electric). Criteria for the planning of logging programs for different lithologies and borehole types.
4)
Applied NMR core and log interpretation: introduction to NMR physics and applications.
5)
Geomechanics: basic principles and applications in particular in drilling.
6)
Core: core acquisition and handling, CCA and SCAL measurements and interpretation including basic porosity and permeability as well as electrical properties, capillary pressure, relative permeability and wettability and its applications in petrophysics.

Objective

The participants will obtain a deeper understanding of the capabilities and limitations of standard wireline logs.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Objective

Advanced Petroleum Eco­nom­ics Seminar

Advanced Petroleum Economics Seminar

Dipl.-Ing. MBAFranzSiegmeth

Compulsory

3 hour Seminar

4 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

no

Synopsis

Selected chapters and actual topics from the petroleum business. Every student gets the chance to dive into selected topics of Petroleum Economics, in a way that under guidance of an advisor he is able to write a scientific article in SPE-paper style.

Objective

The aim of the course is to enable the student to write autonomously a scientific literature paper.

Grading

Advanced Petroleum Eco­nom­ics Seminar

Advanced Petroleum Economics Seminar

Dipl.-Ing. MBAFranzSiegmeth

Compulsory

3 hour Seminar

4 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

no

Synopsis

Selected chapters and actual topics from the petroleum business. Every student gets the chance to dive into selected topics pf Petroleum Economics, in a way that under guidance of an advisor he is able to write a scientific article in SPE-paper style.

Objective

The aim of the course is to enable the student to write autonomously a scientific literature paper.

Advanced Well Construction

Advanced Well Construction

Prerequisites

The successful completion of the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is highly recommended.

Synopsis

The simple vertical well profile is now expanded; highly deviated/horizontal wells and directional drilling techniques are introduced. Special load scenarios (including bi-axial loads) on casing and drill string are discussed as well as torque and drag during drilling and pipe running operations. Cutting transport issues, hydraulic optimization and drilling bit performance issues are explained for more complex wellbore situations. Step by step the basic well plan from lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design is adapted to the new profiles and expanded to design the advanced technical well plan.

Objective

This course builds on knowledge gained in the lecture Drilling Engineering and Well Design. It should provide a fundamental basis for students to understand technical well planning issues for more complex wellbore profiles by including highly deviated and horizontal wells.

Advanced Well Monitoring and Analysis

Advanced Well Monitoring and Analysis

Prerequisites

Comprehensive knowledge about well drilling, logging, testing completions, servicing, reservoir management and production engineering. Completion, well servicing, production, reservoir and field personnel involved in gathering and interpreting data.

Synopsis

Collecting the data, information and events over the whole well, reservoir and field life cycle, their validation and analysis and transformation open various possibilities to learn and make collected data as valuable tools and new knowledge for fast and effective learning.
It is a well-known that data, used for analysis of oil and gas well and reservoir performance (geological, drilling, well servicing, production, processing, economic, etc.) are not the data registered in short period of time, but they are every day, weekly or monthly data. When the data and information are registered, the response has to be prompt, because even the smallest delay in analyst’s reaction inevitably leads to loss of control over the wells’ and reservoirs’ performance. New registered data is always a new time signal that has to be directed in timely manner to corresponding location for the purpose of analysis. Well operation and production history data are recorded and stored on daily basis, and include “hidden” information on potential problem causes that have led to oil production decrease. Selection of well candidates for performing certain operation (workover and/or stimulation) requires knowing general well operating characteristics and a number of specific requirements in well performance, as well as different parameters which allow identification and development of different key performance indicators to quantify operation efficiency of well, reservoir and field and to estimate saving potential if proper corrective actions would be applied. The student will be learned how to prioritize the best candidates for solving the operational problems and increase petroleum production. The frequency of a problem class occurrence, as well as the fact that oil and gas production is basically a time sequence in which certain signals (e.g. oil/water/gas production) or phenomena (paraffin scaling in tubing, inorganic scaling at injection, pump damage, etc.) oscillate in time with typical frequency and phases. Establishing an internal functional and logic dependence between data, information and events is used for generating a well operation learning curve. The various data mining tools will be used to recognize the symptoms and to diagnose the problems in well operations and to allow students better understanding the value of data and information collected during monitoring and surveillance of well operations, both, in real and episodic time. Based on what is known about the field/reservoir, it would be discussed additional tools needed to check and exam well files and data with an aim to evaluate the most likely opportunities. Prior making the final decision whether the well is or not candidate for workover/stimulation, student will be acquired with knowledge how to effectively apply economic analysis to justify the proposed technical solutions.

Objective

The students will lean how to organize big data volume (data, information, events and knowledge) to perform well analysis and to apply problem analysis methodology. Systematic approach to manage big data will be applied with the focus on the value of the data, symptoms recognition methodology and problem diagnosis. The course will allow a deeper understanding concerning the value of various type of data collected during long well and reservoir life cycle. Furthermore, the student should learn how to use the tools to manipulate such data and to convert them to useful information and knowledge with aim to achieve efficient data monetization and produce smarter from maturated brown fields and new discovered green fields.

Grading

Exam is written and if it would be required final check can be done orally. The exam is combined from theoretical and practical questions following the course content
The grading also considers the performance of the students in the course, discussions and activities during lectures.

Applied Geothermal Geophysics and Seismicity

Applied Geothermal Geophysics and Seismicity

Synopsis

This course introduces the theoretical and practical basics of geothermal energy recovery and induced earth quakes. Based on the physical principles of heat generation and transport, the heat balance of the earth is discussed: heat sources and heat flow in the earth. The global discussion focuses on radiogenic heat production in the earth's crust and petrophysical parameters that are important for geothermal energy recovery. Measuring methods for determining the heat flow are explained and performed in the lab.
The second part of this course discusses seismic events in mining, reservoirs, geothermal energy and gas / oil extraction. The required rock mechanical and seismological principles are taught.

Objective

Deepened understanding of the Earth's heat balance and the basics of using geothermal energy.
Understanding the processes that lead to induced earthquakes: induced seismicity - cause and effect

Grading

Artificial Lift Systems

Artificial Lift Systems

Prerequisites

Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
Oil and Gas Production Principles
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

Advantages, disadvantages and the usage of different AL-systems are discussed in detail. The single components of a sucker rod installation, like pump jack, strings and the pumps themselves and their working methods are taught. Furthermore the students will get an insight into the principles of gas lift components and their design. Electric submersible pumps are discussed in detail as well as progressive cavity pumps. Another focus will be on proper material selection.

Objective

The lecture will give an overview of the most popular artificial systems. Sucker rod pumps, gas lift installations, electrical submersible, progressive cavity and hydraulic pumps are discussed in detail.
Successful participants will be able to design a proper artificial lift installation. They also will understand the limitations of the individual applications. Proper material selection based on the composition of the media produced should be fully understood as well.

Artificial Lift Systems Practical

Artificial Lift Systems Practical

Prerequisites

Oil and Gas Production Principles Practical
Analogous attendance of lecture “Artificial Lift Systems”
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

In this course the common artificial lift systems are taught: Sucker Rod Pumps, Progressive Cavity Pumps, Electric Submersible Pumps, Hydraulic Pumps and Gas Lift Systems
The working principle, design and system optimization procedures are discussed and applied. Industry standard software and the Pump Testing Facility are used to aid in training.
An insight into new technologies and developments is presented and discussed.

Objective

Successful participants are able to explain the working principle of the standard artificial lift systems, apply standard design and optimisation procedures with and without state of the art software. Furthermore they can perform a diagnosis of operating pumps.

Objective

Successful participants will gain an insight into a general simulation workflow, will create a connection between physics models and their numerical implementation and will be able to independently solve a simulation problem of continuum mechanics, be it fluid dynamics and/or solid mechanics, using an OpenFOAM solver.

Crisis Man­age­ment in the Petroleum Industry

Crisis Management in the Petroleum Industry

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

The lectures will cover various types of crises. They also will describe how to set up a crisis management system and how to manage a company in a crisis situation. The students will also get trained in a TV studio in order to be prepared to act as a company’s spokesperson.

Objective

The participants will learn how to manage a crisis situation in an E&P company.
Successful participants will be able to identify the crisis potential. They must be capable to setup a crisis organization within a short period of time. The ability of internal and external communication must be demonstrated. Finally, successful participants will be able to act as the company’s spokesperson.

Drilling Process Evaluation and Planning

Drilling Process Evaluation and Planning

Prerequisites

The successful completion of the lecture and practical Drilling Engineering and Well Design is highly recommended.

Synopsis

Subdivision of the drilling process into discrete operations; analysis and optimization of costs for each operation; analysis of bit and drilling performance; development of time versus depth and time versus cost charts; analysis of learning.

Objective

This course should provide a fundamental understanding of the drilling process in terms of process optimization and drilling costs reduction. It rounds up the technical well planning part from other lectures by detailed analysis of different operations and processes on the rig site and in the wellbore. The outcome of this lecture will be implemented in the Authorization of Expenditures (AFE).

Objective

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Enhanced Oil Recovery

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Objective: To obtain basic knowledge of physical and chemical principles underpinning microscopic displacements and reservoir-scale sweep processes. This knowledge will be applied to learn how to enhance recovery from oil reservoirs that already underwent primary depletion and secondary recovery processes.
Content: The course establishes the theoretical foundation in displacement physics, for the participant to understand and design IOR and EOR (improved and enhanced oil recovery) processes. We examine multiphase-flow phenomena ranging from the pore scale (micro-displacement efficiency) to the field scale (viscous fingering, emulsification, etc.).
A variety of EOR techniques will be discussed, including designed-water flooding, surfactant methods, miscible-gas injection, thermal recovery methods, and techniques for mobility control. The impact of these methods on displacement and sweep efficiency, their sensitivity to reservoir properties and their limits of applicability and associated risks will be discussed.

Objective

Participants of this course will acquire a solid foundations in EOR methods and an understanding where and when to apply them given their cost and compatibility with reservoir characteristics (EOR screening).

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Objective

Grading

Field Devel­op­ment Project

Field Development Project

Prerequisites

The course is designed for engineering undergraduate (e.g. mechanical or drilling engineering or similar) who have an understanding of engineering fundamentals, ideally entry level lectures in mechanical and electrical engineering, and automation, basic understanding of drilling engineering. The course also targets graduate students, who are interested in applied engineering problems.

Synopsis

As members of an artificial asset team, course participants will gain proficiency and experience in the reservoir engineering workflow with the goal of the preparation and presentation of a development plan for a real reservoir. Objectives: Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favorable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management.

Objective

Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favorable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management. Successful participants will gather work experience in a realistic multi-disciplinary environment where they have to rely on each other’s expertise to achieve the project objectives. This will improve ability for effective teamwork, their technical communication skills, approach to interpersonal conflict resolution, and ability to fulfill specific objectives and deadlines.

Grading

Formation Impairment and Stimulation

Formation Impairment and Stimulation

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

Based on the history of a wellbore, origin and various types of formation impairment are discussed. The part of the lecture dealing with hydraulic fracturing will cover: Rock mechanics and fracture geometry, fracture conductivity, fracturing fluids, additives and proppants. Moreover, theories of proppant transportation as well as 2D and 3D models of fracture propagation are discussed. The lectures will also cover various types of acidizing technologies. HSE issues will also be covered.

Objective

The students will get an understanding of formation impairment and how to improve the inflow performance.
The successful participant will demonstrate his/her ability to judge the type of impairment of the wellbore. They will also be able to set up a matrix stimulation and fracturing program for the individual application. HSE issues are an integral part of every program.

Introduction to Field Devel­op­ment Project

Introduction to Field Development Project

Synopsis

As members of an artificial asset team, course participants will gain proficiency and experience in the reservoir engineering workflow with the goal of the preparation and presentation of a development plan for a real reservoir. Objectives: Multi-disciplinary teams consisting of a petroleum geologist, driller, reservoir and production engineers and an economist, will use provided field data to characterize a reservoir, build a simulation model, history match it, and carry out sensitivity analysis to identify a favourable production strategy expressed and formulated into a field development plan written up as a report submitted in the context of a final presentation to management.

Objective

Successful participants will gather work experience in a realistic multi-disciplinary environment where they have to rely on each others expertise to achieve the project objectives. This will improve ability for effective teamwork, their technical communication skills, approach to interpersonal conflict resolution, and ability to fulfill specific objectives and deadlines.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To understand the function of-, referential character, structure, and organization of scientific publications and learn how to write a literature review following this format.
Objectives: Explain the process of preparation, submission, review and publication of scientific articles and their structure. Give participants a sense of the purpose of this organization and the role of individual elements, with special emphasis on the introduction, and its subdivision into the review, claim, and agenda. Special emphasis will be placed on how a literature review uses citations to progress from the familiar to the new, how it should distinguish areas of broad agreement from ones of controversy, and how different sources and kinds of information available to scientists underpin different viewpoints.

Objective

Successful participants will know how to use scientific literature to quickly extract information, supporting evidence / arguments, and links to supporting materials from articles. They will understand the role of the abstract, introduction, method, result and discussion sections, the conclusions, acknowledgements, list of references, and notation tables. They will also be able to properly reference citations, figures, and tables and know how to write figure captions and other elements of a paper in the expected format. Similar knowledge with regard to the preparation of conference presentations will also be acquired.

Grading

Initial test must be passed, review (70%) and presentation to peers (30%) of final mark.

Measure­ment Control, Monitoring and Analysis

Measurement Control, Monitoring and Analysis

Prerequisites

The participant will be introduced to all aspects of measuring at the rig, as well as reporting requirements. The analysis of all available data in real-time, as well as for post analysis will be discussed.

Synopsis

The course will present all relevant sensors on the rig and explain the measurement principles, as well as the required data quality assurance that needs to be applied interpreting these sensor readings. The participant will work through various examples of real-data from rigs to perform monitoring and analysis tasks, which typically are performed in real-time operating centers (RTOCs), or for post analysis. This will include requirements and examples for hydraulics monitoring, torque and drag monitoring, pore-pressure prediction and wellbore stability monitoring, as well as drilling performance evaluation. We will introduce data management and storage requirements and discuss data exchange standards, such as WITS or WITSML.

Objective

The participant will be introduced to all aspects of measuring at the rig, as well as reporting requirements. The analysis of all available data in real-time, as well as for post analysis will be discussed.

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Metallurgy and Corrosion for Petroleum Engineers

Hon.Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.mont.MarkusOberndorfer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Synopsis

technical, environmental, economical importance of corrosion and corrosion protection in oil and gas production and refining, aspects of security, types of corrosion, corrosion monitoring and corrosion protection

Objective

generation of knowledge on materials and corrosion relevant for petroleum engineers

Grading

for an examination date please send an email to markus.oberndorfer@rag-austria.at

Natural Gas Technology

Natural Gas Technology

Dr. Dipl.-Ing.LeopoldBräuer

Optional

2 hour Lecture

3 ECTS Credits

English

Prerequisites

Introduction to Petroleum Engineering
Basics of the first four semesters

Synopsis

The lecture will cover the most important processes of purification, storage, and distribution of natural gas. An overview of the necessity of transportation of natural gas to the market by liquefaction or GTL-processes will be given. The required equipment for gas processing, storage, distribution and the technical specifications of natural gas will be discussed. The importance of process flow diagrams will be demonstrated.

Objective

The students will learn about the flow of natural gas from the wellbore via the surface facilities to its final destination at the customer’s location.
Successful participants will understand the purification, process for various qualities of natural gas. They also will understand the chemical and physical limits to be considered in the process. Process flow diagrams of facilities will be understood.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

This course is based on the knowledge, gained from the basic courses during the bachelor’s studies. Enhanced inflow performance relationship models are presented, recalculated by hand and compared with the according software results. The vertical lift performance of multi-phase flow is analyzed in combination with choke and valve performance in detail. The nodal analysis, to evaluate the production rate and pressure for different completion types is trained. For artificially pumped wells, the design and layout of different pumping units is studied, using according software. The students elaborate a sensitivity study for a reference case and optimize the given system according to their findings.

Objective

This complementary course gives the students a detailed training on the flow behavior of multiphase fluids from the reservoir to the separator. Hand calculations in conjunction with the usage of state of the art software provide the students with fundamental knowledge on successfully designing and analyzing production systems.
Unterrichts-/
Lehrsprachen
Deutsch

Practical Aspects of Field Devel­op­ment

Practical Aspects of Field Development

Prerequisites

enrolled in Master’s program PE

Synopsis

On the occasion of an in-house seminar in an E&P company, the student will get a comprehensive overview of a petroleum engineer’s daily work.

Objective

The participants will gain practical knowledge and understand how theory from the university is implemented in an operational unit.
Successful participants will understand the necessity of a comprehensive theoretical background in order to fulfill the requirements in an engineer’s career.

Principles of Shallow and Deep Geothermal Energy...

Principles of Shallow and Deep Geothermal Energy Recovery and Thermodynamics

Prerequisites

Basics of the first four semesters
Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics
Geo-Engineering and Fluid Dynamics

Synopsis

The content of this course is the introduction into shallow and deep geothermal energy recovery systems. Relevant thermodynamic principles and heat transfer phenomena are discussed. Geological, hydrogeological and technical requirements are explained as well as legal issues. Project steps from the idea to the finished plant are discussed and elaborated in detail.

Objective

Successful participants are able to perform a feasibility study for potential geothermal energy recovery locations and to elaborate a detailed project plan for the successful implementation of geothermal plants.

Objective

The participants know the basics of professional Project Management and they are able to effectively initiate, plan and manage/control projects. The knowledge will also help the participants prepare for an optional certification according to the international PMI-standard (e.g. CAPM / Certified Associate in Project Management).

Grading

written
written and/or oral
Multiple-choice test in each following class

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: Reservoir characterization and modeling is done to create and parameterize simulation models using sparse sub-surface information. The aim of this course is to explain geophysical reservoir characterization methods, reservoir modelling techniques and to demonstrate subsurface data integration across disciplines. Practical skills will be delivered through a series of exercises on real data.
Objectives: The course shows how to utilize information from hydrocarbon fields at different scale for the construction of reservoir models. At large scale structural and stratigraphic seismic attributes can be calibrated to well data. AVO and inversion results will be applied for rock and fluid characterization.
With geo-statistics reservoir properties will be analyzed. Deterministic (kriging, co-kriging) or stochastic algorithms (Gaussian simulation) will be covered in continuous property interpolation. For discrete properties object-based modeling, indicator simulation or multi-point statistics methods will be covered. Techniques for the averaging and upscaling of resulting geo-cellular reservoir models will also be addressed. They will be illustrated using state-of-the-art reservoir modelling software and data from actual reservoirs.

Objective

Participants will understand the logic, underpinning assumptions, and limitations of the most commonly used seismic attributes, statistical methods and geological modelling algorithms, and will be able to execute these methods using standard software tools in the frame of the static modelling workflow.

Grading

Five exercises (one for each main topic) need to be completed; team-work is appreciated. Short reports documenting parameters used, results and their interpretation should be submitted. Completed exercise summaries are the pre-requisite for a final mark. The mark will result from a final exam (written or oral).

Reservoir Engineering 2: Advanced Concepts for Conventional Resources

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To develop solid foundations in advanced reservoir engineering concepts through having a complete understanding of physics of reservoir engineering.
Objectives: The course will focus on theoretical foundations of advanced reservoir engineering concepts. The physics of coning phenomena is explained and mathematical foundations are discussed. A review of aquifer models and prediction of aquifer performance by matching production data with other characteristics are illustrated. Efficiency of water flooding using Buckley-Leverett and other approaches will be reviewed and experimental and field studies presented. The review of conventional and recent methods in well testing of oil and gas wells for fractured and non-fractured reservoirs will be investigated. Inflow-outflow performance curve of oil wells are discussed. An introduction to characterization, modeling and simulation of Naturally Fractured Reservoirs (NFRs) is followed by some case studies.

Objective

Participants will acquire solid foundations in the advanced techniques of reservoir engineering, and understand how to apply them in complex reservoir problems in the future studies.

Reservoir Engi­neering 2: Storage, Seques­tra­tion and...

Reservoir Engineering 2: Storage, Sequestration and Geothermal Energy

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Objective: The course aims to broaden the participant’s knowledge and perspective in reservoir engineering beyond the area of oil and gas production. Participants will get familiar with gas storage, acid gas and CO2 sequestration, energy recovery through CO2 injection and from geothermal systems.
Content: We will apply reservoir engineering methods to non-oil and gas subsurface processes and operations, and address topics specific for the respective operations.
The course covers reservoir engineering and operational aspects of: CO2 injection for sequestration, enhanced oil recovery and enhanced coal bed methane, natural gas and hydrogen Storage and geothermal energy production with focus on deep reservoirs and hot dry rock systems.
Thereby we address specific thermodynamic properties such as CO2-brine phase behavior, gas sorption, the coupling of fluid transport and chemical reactions, i.e. reactive transport, and the coupling to mechanical rock properties.
Lectures will be combined with discussions and exercises to deepen the knowledge.

Objective

Participants of this course will acquire solid foundations in storage and sequestration processes and energy recovery by CO2 injection and from geothermal systems. They will become familiar with the specific reservoir engineering issues of those operations. The course will enable to assess storage capacities, energy recoveries, as well as to assess the risks of such operations.

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Reservoir Engineering 2: Unconventional Resources

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To provide a basic understanding and knowledge about unconventional resources for hydrocarbon oil and gas.
Objectives: The course include classification of resources, geologic and geographic occurrences, recovery technology and economics of unconventional hydrocarbon resources. The course will cover theoretical and practical aspects of unconventional reservoirs, such as, shale oil and gas, tar sands and heavy oils, gas hydrates, Coal Bed Methane (CBM), and also tight gas reservoirs. The geochemical and petrophysical properties and recovery mechanisms of each type will be presented. Production strategies enhancing by fracking and drilling/completion constraints for optimal designing are discussed and criteria to assess the performance of such a reservoir based on well placement will be reviewed. Simulation techniques and limitations are followed by environmental impacts of unconventional oil and gas productions.

Objective

Participants will learn the physics of unconventional reservoirs and how to combine reservoir engineering knowledge to analyze them.

Prerequisites

Synopsis

Aims: To develop the understanding for an interdisciplinary synergetic approach to efficient reservoir management with the goal to optimize economic recovery of petroleum assets
Objectives: The application of reservoir management principles as a strategy throughout the life cycle of a petroleum asset at each stage, from discovery, through appraisal to development and production until abandonment the critical aspects of reservoir management are recovered. The successful economic development of a petroleum asset requires an integrated approach in every aspect. This approach is applied to data acquisition, reservoir description and modelling, assessing uncertainty, techniques of reservoir monitoring and surveillance, generating predictions of future reservoir performance and economic evaluation.

Objective

Successful participants will understand and be able to apply the principles of reservoir management. This includes goal setting, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating reservoir performance to maximize economic recovery and minimize capital investment, risk and operating expenses. They will be able to identify, acquire and manage geosciences data that are required for building integrated reservoir models used for field development planning. They will also understand how these models are used together with traditional techniques like classical material balance and decline curve analysis to achieve optimum field development and operating plans. They will know how to apply the current reserves/ resource definitions to portray the total value of an oil and gas company by identifying all upside and downside potential. This supports portfolio management and the decision-making process.

Reservoir Simulation Methods I

Reservoir Simulation Methods I

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE, Flow in Porous Media, Reservoir Fluids

Synopsis

Aims: Students will be provided an insight into existing methods of numerical reservoir simulation based on black-oil formulations. The course will consist of presentation accompanied by hands-on exercises (predominantly Matlab).
Objectives: At first, an introduction with a review of simulation artifacts will be given followed by a part on modeling concepts and simulator input data. Thereafter, the constitutive equations will be discussed and the discretization methods explained. Finally, well models are introduced to enable participants to develop numerical simulation codes suitable to reproduce meaningful simulation results that can match literature cases. The focus of this course is on classical multi-phase fluid flow problems and their associated solution algorithms to be expressed as pseudo-code written in Matlab language. The practical part will focus on 2-phase flow in one and two-dimensional models to be constructed and developed by participants. Classical methods implemented in black-oil reservoir simulators will be applied and discussed in more detail. Additional material on more specialized simulation topics will be covered in a subsequent course (Reservoir Simulation Methods II).

Objective

Successful course participants will understand how simulation methods can be employed to model multi-phase reservoir flow. Basic programming skills and knowledge of algorithms will be acquired during the course.

Reservoir Simulation Methods II: Advanced Concepts

Reservoir Simulation Methods II: Advanced Concepts

Prerequisites

Space-Time Discretization of Flow and Transport Equations

Synopsis

Aims: Following the objectives set out in Space-Time Discretization of Flow and Transport Equations, and taking them further, the aim of this course is to familiarize participants with the non-linear governing partial differential equations arising from reservoir physics, and the numerical / discretization methods used to simulate with them. Linearizing assumptions are removed sequentially through conceptual examples, and complexity is uncovered through different approaches designed to deal with each case. Learning all of these techniques requires studying some of the most important physical processes in a reservoir and their mathematical interpretation to ultimately construct a simulator code. In this manner, the aim is to expand and consolidate the student’s understanding of what happens in the underground.
Objectives: In sequence, the course covers the conceptualization of flow-related processes in a reservoir and its surroundings. These processes and their interactions are formalized in terms of governing partial differential equations (PDEs). Their discretization and numerical solution with either the Finite-Volume or Finite-Element Methods (FVM, FEM) is illustrated. The course also covers the design of numerical experiments and visualization, analysis, and interpretation of simulation results. Special emphasis is placed on the non-linear aspects of two phase fluid flow in porous media.

Objective

Successful participants will understand how FEM/FVM methods and associated space-time discretization methods can be employed to solve multiphase flow equations (through two phase examples). Students will obtain valuable knowledge through the implementation of features used by the newest black-box commercial simulators. This will aid them in their work with any simulator they use, for whatever purpose.

Objective

Grading

Special Core Analysis

Special Core Analysis

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Aims: To develop skills in Core Analysis, Special Core Analysis and supporting techniques. To enable participants to analyze and interpret SCAL data.
Objectives: We review the basic concepts of wettability, saturations, capillarity, and relative permeability. We will learn about experimental techniques to characterize basic rock and fluid properties and to measure capillary pressure and relative permeability saturation functions.
Experimental data will be provided to obtain hands-on experience in analytical and numerical data interpretation, and to enable participants to “read” SCAL data.

Objective

Participants will become familiar with SCAL measurements and data interpretation methods (analytical and numerical). The course will enable to design a SCAL program, to QA/QC the resulting data and to predict water-flood performance and implications for EOR.

Grading

Continuous evaluation and active participation will account for 50% and a final exam (written or oral) will accounting for 50% to the final grading.

Surface Facilities for Geothermal Energy

Surface Facilities for Geothermal Energy

Prerequisites

Basics of the first four semesters
Heat Transfer and Thermodynamics
Geo-Engineering and Fluid Dynamics

Synopsis

The content of this course is the discussion of surface facilities for geothermal energy recovery. The concepts and used facilities for heat generation and power-heat coupling units are presented. Designs, dimensioning and optimisations of the individual used pipes, pumps, turbines, and generators as well as the overall system are performed. Maintenance, operation and legal requirements are presented.

Objective

Successful participants are able to design and optimise surface facilities for geothermal energy recovery. Legal requirements as well as maintenance and operational requirements are understood.

Water Flooding

Water Flooding

Prerequisites

The student should be familiar with concepts of basic reservoir engineering. Knowledge of basic reservoir simulation is recommended.

Synopsis

Theoretical, experimental and mathematical subjects related to water flooding process will be provided in detail. This will include; fundamentals of water flooding, design & optimization, performance predictions surveillance, water flooding management, and extension of water flooding in terms of low salinity water, smart water, carbonated water, and augmented Nano flooding.

Objective

The objective of this course is to provide and introduce the students with the fundamental of conventional and non-conventional water flooding processes. The students should be able to identify and understood the key reservoirs and operational factors impacting a water injection project in terms of recovery efficiency. In addition, calculation of water flood performance through analytical (Buckley-Leverett using Matlab or Excel) and numerical simulator is part of the objective.

Well Construction Fluids Lab

Well Construction Fluids Lab

Prerequisites

The student should have passed the basic drilling engineering and fluid mechanics courses of the Petroleum Engineering Bachelor program.

Synopsis

The course starts with a theoretical part, including safety instructions, an introduction to principal used equipment and procedures and a detailed discussion of backgrounds of the individual lab modules. In the practical part of this course students will execute a series of experiments. Principal properties like fluid viscosity, gel strength, weight and filtration is measured for two different fluid systems. The impact on these properties when drilling salt or shale is demonstrated. Special attention is laid on drilling problems like differential pipe sticking, mud cake resistivity and formation damage by drilling fluids.

Objective

During this course the student is guided through the most important drilling fluids rig-laboratory measurements. Two example fluids are prepared and their drilling relevant properties are determined in a series of mechanical and chemical experiments.

Grading

This laboratory course starts with a block of 10 semester hours on theories which is held as a block at begin of the semester. 20 semester hours is used afterwards to execute the lab modules. Students need to register for these modules in advance.

Well Construction Mechanical Lab

Well Construction Mechanical Lab

Prerequisites

The student should have passed the basic drilling engineering and mechanical engineering courses of the Petroleum Engineering Bachelor program

Synopsis

The course is divided in 7 sessions.
In the first session the fundamentals of the principle rig mechanical systems and a systematic approach to evaluation and design will be introduced.
The second and third blocks describe the work flow during the mechanical component planning and development using the CDC-1 rig as an example.
The fourth session involves identifying and formulating the requirements and constraints for the rig.
The fifth and sixth sessions give some recommendation of different Drilling Tests related to the ROP determination and also define the operation limits with the CDC.
The last session is intended to use the knowledge gained during the previous sessions for design and calculations of a Mini-Drill-Rig. In this block the students will also have the opportunity to get a drilling practice using the Mini-Drill-Rig at the Chair of Drilling and Completion Engineering (CDC).

Objective

The course is designed for students in the Master program and is intended to give a hands-on course covering engineering design, different drilling tests such as drill off test and also operation limits with CDC. The main objective of the course is to give an overview about with the objective to work on the Mini-Drilling Rig CDC-1 considering the following aspects:
• Fundamentals of Engineering Design (construction, material, processing)
• Different Drilling Tests ( Drill Off Test)
• Mechanical Component Development Process
• Drilling Operation & Process
• Drilling Process Optimization

Objective

The course discussed special drilling related problems and their solutions. An understanding of these problems is essential to control overall well costs and succeed in safely reaching the intended target.

Well Control

Well Control

Synopsis

The course consists of a theoretical and practical part in which students have the possibility to receive a well control simulation training, similar as required by the IWCF certificate. Theory of pressure control in drilling operations and during well kicks are discussed as well as abnormal pressure detection and fracture gradient determination. The rig site well control system is presented in detail and standard well control procedures like the Drillers Method and the Wait and Weight Method are evaluated and simulated in the practical part with the help of an in-house well control simulator.

Objective

This course is designed to familiarize the student with the basics of kick detection and well control. The session consists of an overview of kick indicators, various types of pressure, and well control equipment, techniques and procedures.

Objective

Well Placement

Well Placement

Prerequisites

Students are expected to have a basic understanding of geology, well logging, drilling engineering and production engineering.

Synopsis

In this course students will be tought the basic concepts of well placement and the dependency of these principles on geoscience, drilling and production.
Well placement and its applications are defined and the entire process from the planning to the execution stage is covered:
Students will learn how to create the necessary geoscience models, well plans and LWD models. For the drilling stage, students will learn how to interprete measurements and the workflows to place the well in the target zone, meet the well objective and also consider the production restrictions for the later stage of the well life.

Objective

Students will learn how to create the necessary geoscience models, well plans, LWD models and will undergo telemetry and steering decision calculations.

Wellbore and Reservoir Geo­me­chanics

Wellbore and Reservoir Geomechanics

Prerequisites

BSc courses in PE

Synopsis

Aims: To provide the geo-mechanical background and skills in the quantification of the mechanical properties of reservoir rocks and deformation processes of relevance to petroleum engineering.
Objectives: Departing from the already familiar concepts of strain and stress Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, and elastic versus visco-plastic irreversible deformation, this lecture will explain how reservoir rocks deform (rheology), and the stress- and fluid pressure states they are in before and during production. This analysis also necessitates a review of natural / induced faulting and fracturing and the corresponding patterns and structures that often confine or occur within hydrocarbon reservoirs. The concepts: compaction, strain hardening and softening, strain localization, tensile and shear failure, constitutive models, the relationship between fluid pressure and effective stress, the yield-envelope, and typical stress states of the earth’s crust will be explained in sufficient detail to understand reservoir geo-mechanical studies and field tests. Special emphasis will be placed on stress measurement and wellbore stability (breakouts, hydraulic fracture etc.) as well as the deformation of reservoir rocks under low effective stress / elevated fluid pressure. FEM analysis will be used to investigate stresses and failure in geo-engineering applications. The PDEs governing elastic-plastic behavior and taking into account fluid pressure and flow will be introduced, deriving displacement based FEM formulations. Field studies on the Lost Hill anticline and offshore reservoirs in the western US will be used to illustrate these concepts in practice.

Objective

Course participants will learn standard techniques to evaluate the state of stress, fluid pressure regime, constitutive behavior and failure envelope for most common sedimentary rocks. This will enable them to assess borehole stability, the poroelastic response of a reservoir, and the risks of reservoir compaction and disintegration / sand production.

Grading

One piece of course work (30%), an interim exam (30%) and a final exam on all of the covered material (40%).